As the celebration of seeking defeat on the wasteland grew ever more frenzied, it began showing signs of devolving from a series of friendly tests into sheer chaos and farce.
Several venerable elders from the great sects who still retained their reason could no longer stand by. Each raised their voice with authority and ordered their disciples to stop.
The head of the Ancient Desolate Wang Family also wore a grim expression. With emotions too complicated to put into words, he silently led his people away.
The departure of the top powers and their prodigies was like the ebbing tide, carrying away the greatest noise and danger with it.
The remaining cultivators gradually came to their senses from that collective frenzy. They exchanged awkward glances.
Looking at the battered surroundings, the traces of their sparring, and their fellow disciples with swollen faces and blackened eyes yet gleaming gazes, they felt a jumble of indescribable emotions. In the end, they too dispersed in small groups.
Outside the Imperial Tomb, silence returned.
On the mountaintop, Gu Changge withdrew his gaze and said indifferently to Xuanyangzi beside him, “The show’s over. Let’s go.”
Xuanyangzi, clutching the Imperial Scripture, glanced back at the wasteland once more before leaving with Gu Changge. Their figures slowly faded away.
Ling Canglan also returned to the Lingxiao Sacred Land disciples and led them back to the sect.
Xiao Ruobai, Ling Xi, and the others had vanished long ago.
Thus, the storm surrounding the Imperial Tomb came to an end.
Yet the real storm had only just begun to spread outward.
The name Cyan Rakshasa swept across the entire Eastern Region like a hurricane, in a manner even more rapid, shocking, and legendary than Battle Asura had once done. At an astonishing speed, it began spreading toward the other great domains as well.
One finger had defeated a Saint.
Amid countless embellished retellings, her reputation quickly rose to a height that inspired awe. She became synonymous with mystery, power, and unfathomable strength in this era.
Alongside this world-shaking reputation came a subtle yet far-reaching shift in the prevailing atmosphere.
Perhaps it was the shock of seeing Wang Zhan emerge reborn from defeat. Perhaps it was the inspiration brought by that first cry from the wasteland—
“Grant me a defeat!”
A completely different attitude from the old one of “seeking only victory and regarding defeat as shameful” truly began to spread like sparks among the younger generation of the Eastern Region.
Before long, as one traveled through various parts of the Eastern Region, it became common to see young cultivators stop their peers—or even their seniors—not to provoke them, but to clasp their fists with utmost seriousness.
“Please enlighten me, fellow cultivator. I seek only defeat, so that I may understand my shortcomings.”
At first, this behavior drew countless astonished looks, mocking laughs, and even angry rebukes. Gradually, however, some people truly began trying it, accepting such challenges, and even treating it as a new method of cultivation.
Many prodigies had spent days in secluded cultivation and happened to break through. Filled with satisfaction, they would emerge eager to find someone against whom they could test their swordsmanship, verify their cultivation, and restore their reputation.
Yet the moment they left seclusion and stepped into a marketplace or sect, they would be stunned to discover that their peers were no longer discussing who had defeated whom. Instead, they were talking about where someone had gone to seek defeat and what insights they had gained from it.
The challenge platforms were also filled with strange invitations to battle:
“I seek only defeat!”
These people stood at the edges of bustling crowds, holding divine abilities they had just finished tempering and carrying grand ambitions of making a name for themselves.
As they listened to those absurd conversations and watched those battles unfold in ways utterly different from what they had expected, the confidence on their faces gradually froze and turned into blank confusion.
Quite a few could not help grabbing a familiar friend and pointing toward the chaos. Their voices trembled with uncertainty.
“Wait, fellow cultivator. How long was I in seclusion?”
“Why does it feel as if I’ve entered a completely different world?”
Their friends would often give them a complicated look. In the end, they would pat them on the shoulder and sigh with deep feeling.
“Sigh, brother. The times have changed.”
“If you want to get by among the younger generation of the Eastern Region, you may not have won any battles, but you’d better have the courage to seek defeat—and a story to go with it.”
That prodigy would stand frozen in place, staring at the now-unfamiliar atmosphere. He could only feel that the divine weapon in his hand had suddenly lost its appeal.
Even his newly broken-through cultivation realm felt unstable. His mind was filled with only one thought:
“What the hell is wrong with this world?!”
Yet beneath this seemingly absurd craze, a fiercer—even crueler—competition was quietly taking shape.
Once defeat was no longer frightening, and was even granted the sacred significance of aiding one’s path to enlightenment, the adventurous and ambitious spirit suppressed within countless cultivators was instead completely ignited.
The number of people daring to challenge stronger opponents—even those in higher realms—increased visibly.
“Even if I lose, it won’t be shameful. I can still see my shortcomings.”
This new logic became the best justification and psychological shield for many people as they crossed gaps in strength and charged toward greater heights.
For a time, examples of those challenging across realms appeared throughout the Eastern Region.
Some cultivators in the Heavenly Human Realm, fully aware that they were no match, still challenged seniors in the King Realm to battles seeking defeat, simply to personally experience the might of a higher realm.
Even if they were sent flying while vomiting blood, as long as they could glimpse the operation of a single thread of Dao principles during the battle, they considered the experience immensely worthwhile. After returning to seclusion to digest what they had learned, they would often find that their cultivation bottlenecks had genuinely begun to loosen.
Many used almost self-torturous methods to temper their souls and comprehend higher realms. Though they lost ten battles out of ten, their auras became more condensed with each defeat.
Some went even further, walking along the edge of life and death and verifying what they had learned through bloody battles, breaking through their limits.
As a result, the casualty rate rose. But those who survived advanced at a startling pace.
Eastern Region, Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, Starwatching Platform.
The night wind was cool as it stirred the ranking list in Xinglan’s hands. The list had been woven from specially made threads bearing star patterns, and the ink upon it was still fresh.
At the top of the first page, the three characters “Prodigy Ranking” flowed with Daoist charm, glittering beneath the starlight.
Below them were the names and annotations that he had spent countless hours deducing, verifying, weighing, and carefully arranging.
This should have been another grand occasion in which the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion established its authority through the rankings.
Yet Xinglan’s handsome face lacked its usual composure. His brows were faintly furrowed.
The earthshaking duel outside the Imperial Tomb, Wang Zhan’s solitary departure, and the absurd frenzy of seeking defeat that had erupted afterward had all become indelible marks upon his Dao heart as he sought to divine the secrets of Heaven.
Every rise and fall of the names on the list seemed incompatible with this strange new trend of seeking the Dao through defeat.
The atmosphere among the younger generation appeared to have shifted overnight—from competing for the glory of victory to tempering oneself through defeat and illuminating one’s heart.
“Master.”
Xinglan stopped several paces away. His voice carried a rare hesitation as he raised the ranking list in his hands.
“Should we still publish this newly revised Prodigy Ranking as scheduled?”
Master Tianji did not turn around.
Only the wind answered from the Starwatching Platform.
After a long while, he finally spoke. His voice was calm, yet carried a desolation Xinglan had never heard from him before.
“Put it on hold for now.”
He paused. His gaze seemed to pierce the river of stars and glimpse the source of those unfathomable changes. He murmured,
“As for the changes taking place in this world… it isn’t just you who can’t see through them. Even I cannot.”
Xinglan’s heart trembled. The ranking list in his hands suddenly felt as heavy as a thousand jun.
He silently rolled it up, bowed, and withdrew.
Just as he was about to leave the Starwatching Platform entirely, an extremely faint, halting mutter drifted down from the platform’s highest edge on the wind.
The voice was indistinct, filled with bewilderment—and a hint of cursing.
“It makes no sense. The world is reviving, the Imperial Star is about to appear, and it should be in the Eastern Region. But how did the omen turn out so damn crooked…?”
“One finger defeating a Saint is one thing, but how did it lead to a whole world of lunatics begging to be beaten?”
“Wang Zhan’s destiny is indeed somewhat unusual, but with this ‘defeat’ taking the lead, it can actually influence the prevailing atmosphere?”
“I’ve never seen anything like this in a thousand years of deductions…”
“What the hell is going on?”
Xinglan’s footsteps faltered almost imperceptibly as he descended. The corner of his lips twitched, stiffly and so faintly that it was nearly impossible to notice.
He immediately composed himself and quickened his pace, as though he hadn’t heard a thing.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
y came from. The chests contained supplies, currency, class-change scrolls, skills, talents… and even godhood! The laws of the world were completely rewritten. This became a world where everyone gambled with their fate! Some people, despite having nothing, opened a divine artifact and rose to the top, eventually ruling the world. Others went bankrupt, opened nothing but worthless junk, and leaped from skyscrapers in despair. Lin Ye arrived in this world from another reality, utterly bewildered. “What is going on? Why is everyone a gambling addict?!” “Opening chests? No way. I refuse to gamble. I’ll start with myself!” Until— On his first chest, he obtained a Mythic Talent: Void Incarnation! He could become completely intangible, pass through all things, and reduce everything to nothingness! … On his fiftieth chest, he obtained a Mythic Weapon: Blade of Karma! With a single slash, karma shattered, twisting the universe and overturning the myriad phenomena of creation! … On his ninety-ninth chest, he obtained a Mythic Divine Treasure: Primordial Purple Energy! It could split open the heavens and earth, create all things, and evolve countless worlds with a single thought! Lin Ye: “Now that I think about it… shouldn’t someone have told me that every chest is guaranteed to contain something Mythic?!”
