Xu Jinghong is currently at the mid-stage of the Mystic Immortal realm, trapped in eerie and ominous circumstances, dazed and unable to maintain clarity. He is like a bomb with an extremely sensitive fuse—the slightest disturbance could set him off!
And the fuse of Xu Jinghong’s bomb is none other than that wisp of Xiuzhi’s remnant soul!
Basically, as long as the fuse is removed, the bomb will stabilize, and Xu Jinghong will regain his senses.
But who can remove it?
The Little Golden Dragon is only at the peak of the Mystic Immortal realm. No matter how many tricks it has up its sleeve, it can’t touch Xiuzhi’s "fuse" without detonating Xu Jinghong’s bomb!
After all, Xu Jinghong is far too sensitive in his current state. If you were to slash him with a sword—or even kill him outright—he might not react at all. But the moment anyone gets close to Xiuzhi’s lingering remnant soul, he explodes instantly!
So the Little Golden Dragon can’t do it—or rather, doesn’t dare!
But Chen Yi has no such concerns. He can stir up trouble right under the nose of a supreme being like Ling Xiao, a Heavenly Emperor, without being detected immediately. Handling a mere Mystic Immortal is child’s play for him.
The Little Golden Dragon knows this all too well. To this day, it still can’t figure out how this guy managed to slip unnoticed into the alternate dimension of the Primordial Chaos Creation Disk, sneak up on it without warning, and then grab it for a thorough "lesson"!
It’s like being in your own home—doors locked, windows shut, everything under your watchful gaze, every sound amplified. Anything foreign that intrudes should be detected immediately!
Yet, under these very conditions, he didn’t come through the door, didn’t climb through a window, and didn’t make a single sound. Without the slightest warning, without a trace of hesitation—he just appeared!
Absolutely absurd!
So when it comes to defusing Xu Jinghong’s bomb, who else but him?!
"Chen Yi, that’s the situation with Old Xu. Are you confident?" Shen Lingxi asked with a sigh.
"Easy. Did your group leader have anything else to say?" Chen Yi waved his hand dismissively before suddenly locking eyes with her.
In that instant—
Shen Lingxi felt as if something had invaded her consciousness, but it vanished just as quickly, leaving no trace.
Frowning, she eyed Chen Yi warily. "Our group leader only asked me to brief you on Old Xu’s condition. There were no other instructions. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave."
She didn’t dare stay any longer.
This man was far too terrifying. Though he seemed unassuming, that brief moment had felt like... a supreme predator blinking at her?
Her instincts had never been wrong—this guy was definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
Playing the harmless fool just to lull others into complacency!
If she lingered any longer, she might end up like her dear Qianxue!
This place was too dangerous—time to retreat!
Without another word, Shen Lingxi turned and left, her resolve unshaken as she strode away without looking back.
Chen Yi watched her go with a hint of regret but didn’t stop her.
For a fleeting moment, he had considered freeing her from her suffering, reuniting her with Qianxue, and severing the influence of Ling Xiao’s will imprinted upon her.
But alas, the top-tier experts in their prime were far too sensitive!
Not that Shen Lingxi herself was overly perceptive—she was actually quite slow on the uptake. No, it was Ling Xiao’s will that was hypersensitive. Before Chen Yi could even act, it had already begun stirring!
How was he supposed to work under these conditions?
Spooking the snake now would ruin future plans, so for the sake of the bigger picture, he had to abandon his "ill intentions" toward her.
Instead, he quietly left behind a single Chaos Pearl wrapped in the same material as his Concealing Cloak.
And he dared not leave more than one—Ling Xiao’s will was already twitching in agitation!
Honestly, what bad intentions could he possibly have?
He just wanted to give a vulnerable woman some protection in case of danger. Was it necessary to guard against him like a thief?
Well, now that the mark was set, the path ahead was long. Slowly increasing the stakes, gradually desensitizing her, making her grow accustomed, making her think dizziness was normal, making her...
"A fully alert No. 2 is too tricky. Let’s see how this dazed No. 3 fares..."
"This Xu Jinghong... he’s quite the character."
Chen Yi’s gaze deepened as he observed the raging spatial vortex, now unrestrained without Shen Lingxi’s suppression. With a flick of his wrist, eighteen Chaos Pearls shot into the void, silently halting its expansion.
At the vortex’s center, a faint, eerie glow swirled—the miniature parallel universe formed from Xu Jinghong’s Dao Domain when he broke through to the Mystic Immortal realm!
Setting Sun City.
Hongxiu Tavern.
"Have you heard? The Peerless Sword Immortal’s decade-long arena challenge ends tomorrow!"
"Ah, ever since the Soaring Sword Immortal went into seclusion, it seems no one in the world of swordplay can last three moves against him."
"Who do you think is stronger—the Peerless Sword or the Soaring Sword?"
"A new generation replaces the old. The Soaring Sword hasn’t been seen in years—he’s probably washed up by now. This is the era of the Peerless Sword!"
"I disagree. The Soaring Sword is superior. That man single-handedly carved through the lair of the Outer Realm Demons. What has the Peerless Sword done? Even if he defeats everyone else, as long as the true No. 1 lives, he’ll always be second!"
"But the Peerless Sword Immortal has been openly taunting him, and the Soaring Sword hasn’t responded at all. Is he biding his time... or is he afraid?"
"Who knows?"
"Hey, Old Xu, what do you think? Rumor has it you used to be a swordsman too?"
Amid the chatter, one patron suddenly called out to the tavern’s owner, who was busy serving drinks.
Old Xu, his face scruffy with an unkempt beard, furrowed his sword-like brows, his entire demeanor steeped in an unsolvable melancholy.
He sighed softly. "That’s all in the past. I’m just a lowly liquor peddler now—what would I know about the skills of immortals...?"
"Pity. Why’d you quit the sword?" the patron pressed.
"Pity..." Old Xu murmured, his eyes hollow and distant. "After losing her... nothing else mattered..."
Meanwhile, deep within the Unfathomable Clouds...
A faint, ethereal figure was trapped within a radiant yet gentle glow, her expression frantic as she gazed down at the despondent Old Xu below.
"Yi'an! Can you hear me? Wake up! Don’t give up! I’ve never blamed you, Yi'an! Please, wake up! Wake up...!"
Yi'an was Xu Jinghong’s courtesy name—one only Xiuzhi ever dared to use.
So the answer was clear: this trapped, fading spirit was none other than Xiuzhi’s remnant soul, the one Xu Jinghong had desperately shielded.
Originally, she was nothing more than a fragment of lingering obsession—her true spirit scattered, her consciousness gone, incapable of thought, let alone calling out to her beloved.
But Xu Jinghong had relived their memories in endless cycles, using boundless love to wrest fragments of her true spirit back from the merciless clutches of fate, restoring a sliver of her self.
Yet, alas...
A remnant soul is, after all, just a remnant soul. Lingering due to unresolved attachments, it will eventually fade away once those attachments dissipate.
Xiuzhi's soul remained because she couldn't bear to leave Old Xu behind, but in the end, once Old Xu returns to normal, her lingering will shall vanish.
Perhaps it was precisely because he knew this that Xu Jinghong refused to wake up, deceiving himself all along.
In this realm, the unparalleled Sword Immortal existed as his greatest inner demon. If he were to pick up his sword again and shatter it, he could awaken immediately—yet he refused to wield the blade. He could not overcome that most crushing burden!
"Alas, a swordsman who has lost his heart can no longer even raise his sword. Very well, let me lend you a hand!"
Chen Yi's gaze sharpened as he turned toward Xiuzhi's restless remnant soul, pacing in distress.
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.”
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!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
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."
