Lingxi quickly concealed that tiny bit of a guilty conscience. Her cold gaze, like ten-thousand-year-old ice, slowly turned once again toward the only remaining person on the field, the pale-faced Murong Qiu.
Lingxi's cold gaze, like ice that would not melt for ten thousand years, slowly turned toward the only remaining person on the field, the pale-faced Murong Qiu.
This gaze was sharper than any divine weapon. It instantly pierced through Murong Qiu's final madness and paranoia, as if illuminating his decaying soul.
"When the Dao heart is covered in dust, lifespan is nothing but an excuse. Greed for life and fear of death—that is the true demon."
Lingxi's voice was not loud, yet every word was like a crack of thunder, exploding within Murong Qiu's sea of consciousness!
There was no reprimand, no disdain. It was as if she was not judging him, but rather stating the most fundamental truth of the universe.
Greed for life and fear of death... that is the true demon...
These few short words were like the sharpest sword of the Heavenly Dao, instantly cleaving through all his disguises, justifications, and self-deception!
They laid bare his most wretched heart—the heart he dared not look at—exposing it nakedly to the light of day!
Yes... for these past few centuries, had he truly been pursuing the Great Dao?
Under the seemingly justified excuse of "extending his lifespan," he had merely been indulging his fear of death and nurturing the greedy demonic nature within his heart!
His Dao heart had long been swallowed by this true demon of the "fear of death"!
All his obsessions and madness appeared so ridiculous, so pitiful before those words!
As if struck by lightning, Murong Qiu's entire body trembled violently. He jerked his head up, looking in disbelief at the woman in green who had spoken those words.
Her gaze was calm and rippleless, yet profound as a sea of stars. That look... that look did not belong to a young cultivator at all, but rather to a supreme being... overlooking the mortal realm and commanding the cycle of reincarnation!
At this moment, all his flukes and paranoia were completely crushed. An immense shame and a sense of despair at being completely seen through, with nowhere to hide, extinguished his last trace of madness like ice water.
The blood-red madness in his eyes completely faded, replaced by extreme shock, bewilderment, and an uncontrollable shame and enlightenment rising from the depths of his soul.
He stumbled back a step. The Autumn Water Sword in his hand let out a mournful cry, its radiance dimming, as if it too felt the drastic change in its master's state of mind.
"I... have lost..."
His voice was dry and hoarse, as if it took all his strength to spit out those words. But this defeat seemed to refer to more than just today's battle.
He looked around at these overly young yet incredibly powerful faces, feeling the vigorous, high-spirited, and indomitable Dao intent radiating from them. Those eyes, that aura... how familiar it all was...
Once upon a time, he, Murong Qiu, had been just like that!
The floodgates of memory crashed open, and the past rushed into his mind like a tide.
He remembered his youth, leaving his sect with a sword in hand, full of vigor and spirit, desiring to measure heaven and earth with his blade and right all the injustices of the world!
Back then, his sword heart was clear and bright, his sharpness unstoppable. The cold light of his single sword strike had made him famous across the Eastern Region. He was the idol of countless young swordsmen, hailed as the genius with the greatest hope of reaching the realm of the Sword Saint.
"The long Autumn Water Sword shakes the stars; a youth travels with an aura that towers over a thousand mountains..."
He muttered to himself, a distant gleam flashing in his cloudy eyes—a reminiscence of his lost youth.
But time... is the most ruthless blade.
He didn't know when it started, but his former sharpness had been ground away, and his past ideals had been drowned by reality.
Watching his peers and friends turn to yellow earth one by one, feeling his own vitality declining day by day, and touching the barrier to the Saint Realm that seemed so close yet so impossibly far... he became afraid.
He began to scheme desperately for life-extending pills, calculating resources. For that illusory glimmer of survival, he did not hesitate to lay down his dignity, joining forces with other old monsters to besiege the younger generation and snatch the legendary Seven Stars Secret Token and the Undying Divine Elixir.
"Heh heh... Haha..."
Murong Qiu suddenly began to chuckle, his laughter filled with endless self-deprecation and desolation.
"To think that I, Murong Qiu, fancied myself a grandmaster of the sword, having cultivated for over a thousand years... only to become, in the end, the very type of person I despised and loathed the most in my youth...
Trapped by lifespan, blinded by greed, my Dao heart covered in dust without me even realizing it... How ridiculous! How pathetic!"
His gaze fell once again upon Fang Hanyu's pure and powerful primal chaos sword intent. His look was no longer one of jealousy and madness, but an almost pious envy, along with deep... regret.
"I once thought that the sword in my hand could slay demons and sever evil, that I could freely exact gratitude and revenge... Only now do I know that even the sharpest sword in this world cannot sever the flow of time, nor can it break the shackles of lifespan... Time is ruthless, exclusively striking down the chosen geniuses..."
He took a deep breath, as if to inhale centuries of degradation and remorse into his lungs, and then slowly exhaled.
His eyes became unusually calm, even carrying a liberating clarity.
"Today... witnessing the brilliance of you all, I finally understand the vastness of heaven and earth, and the immensity of the Dao of the Sword... It has also allowed this lost soul to catch a glimpse, before death, of a long-forgotten... original heart of the sword."
He looked at Fang Hanyu, no longer bearing any resentment in his eyes, only complete candor and an almost grateful sense of release.
"To see such pure sword intent before I die, to witness the infinite possibilities of the sword's future... perhaps this is the final mercy... that time has bestowed upon this lost old man."
Before his voice had even faded, a look of absolute resolve flashed in his eyes, and he abruptly reversed all the remaining spiritual energy and sword essence within his body!
"Buzz—!"
The Autumn Water Sword let out an unprecedented, mournful wail that sounded like weeping blood. The light on the blade surged, no longer the cold gleam meant for killing enemies, but a dazzling brilliance born of burning one's life force and returning to the origin! This radiance faintly reflected the spirited and vigorous shadow of his youth.
"I, Murong Qiu... use this broken body to thank you all... for allowing me... to bid farewell... with dignity..."
In the next moment, the sword aura around his body erupted explosively, yet it did not attack anyone. Instead, it all collapsed inward, condensing at the center of his brow!
"Pfft—!"
A soft sound echoed, like the snuffing out of a candle.
An illusory sword shadow, formed purely from his lifelong cultivation in the Dao of the Sword and his final divine soul, flashed and vanished at his brow, instantly obliterating all his life force.
His body slowly fell backward. His face bore a trace of liberating peace, and even faintly held the serenity of returning to his original heart.
The Autumn Water Sword, which had accompanied him for nearly a thousand years, let out a final sorrowful cry. The blade shattered inch by inch, turning into specks of flowing light that lingered by his side, like a loyal companion escorting its master on his final journey.
A once all-powerful sovereign of the sword, whose name had shaken the Eastern Region, used this tragic yet resolute method to draw a period on his misguided path—a conclusion filled with regret, yet retaining his final dignity and original heart.
The field fell into a deathly silence, with only the wind sobbing, as if weeping and complaining.
Xiao Ruobai put away his smile, looking with a complex expression at Murong Qiu's fallen figure. Ultimately, it turned into a soft sigh: "Alas... the blade of time is indeed ruthless."
Fang Hanyu watched in silence as the sword phantom dissipated and the Autumn Water Sword broke. The chaotic sword qi flowing around his body rippled slightly, as if paying tribute to a fallen swordsman.
Ling Xi's gaze remained aloof and cold, but deep within her eyes, a faint ripple seemed to flash by, a subtle sigh at the unpredictability of fate.
Within the cocoon of light, Fatty Wang stared blankly at the scene, a complex mixture of emotions churning in his heart.
Three chapters today!
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
] [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!"
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
