For Luo Wutian, who hailed from the Scripture Pavilion, recognizing the figure represented by the divine statue summoned by the Tribulation Transcender was child’s play.
Of course, it wasn’t because he was exceptionally well-read or had vast knowledge—but simply because... that statue was an exact replica of Ancestor Lingxiu’s portrait, down to every detail of her appearance and even her divine aura!
But why did the statue radiate such an overwhelming sense of death?
Could it be... that Ancestor Lingxiu had fallen?!
And that the Tribulation Transcender was responsible?!
How could that be possible?!
Ancestor Lingxiu had ascended to the Immortal Realm centuries ago, while the Tribulation Transcender couldn’t even survive his own Immortal Ascension Tribulation!
The difference was night and day!
This wasn’t meant to disparage the Tribulation Transcender—it was simply stating the facts!
So the question remained: how did the Tribulation Transcender, who couldn’t even reach the Immortal Realm, obtain a divine statue of Ancestor Lingxiu?
After all, a divine statue wasn’t just any ordinary sculpture. It had to bear Ancestor Lingxiu’s will and imprint to be genuine—otherwise, it would merely be an empty shell, devoid of spirit!
The statue held by the Tribulation Transcender... was undoubtedly real. But why did it feel so lifeless?!
Had the venerable Ancestor truly met with misfortune in the Immortal Realm?
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Luo Wutian’s mind, but none were ones he was willing to accept!
Huo Hai, the Sect Master of the Carefree Sect, was equally unwilling to believe it.
He, too, recognized the statue. After a brief mental shutdown, he erupted in denial:
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
“My Ancestor Lingxiu is invincible!”
“Her Instant Annihilation of a Thousand Tribulations technique was peerless—even the Immortal Ascension Tribulation couldn’t touch her! Even if the Immortal Realm is filled with mighty beings, no one could stop her if she chose to leave!!!”
“Tribulation Transcender, what’s the meaning of presenting this statue? To deceive us? To shatter the spiritual pillar of our Carefree Sect?!”
“Our sect has already declined to the point of barely being a third-rate faction—you could wipe us out with a flick of your finger! Why resort to crushing us spiritually? Why go this far?!”
“What wrong has our Carefree Sect done? We’ll change—just tell us what to fix!”
One might call Huo Hai a stubborn relic of the old guard, a lingering scourge as his name suggested.
But no one could deny his love for the Carefree Sect. He cherished it deeply—so much so that he even bought groceries himself!
Chen Yi sighed faintly. “I regret to inform you of a harsh truth: Chen Lingxiu has indeed perished. This statue is the last trace she left in this world.”
“No!”
Huo Hai’s eyes turned bloodshot. He spun around and dashed toward the sect’s ancestral grounds, soon returning with a massive compass in tow. Growling, he declared:
“The Mark of Time is a semi-immortal treasure left behind by Ancestor Lingxiu before her ascension. Since I became sect master six hundred years ago, I’ve maintained it day and night, never daring to slacken. Though our ancestors drained much of its Dao essence to resolve past crises, Ancestor Lingxiu’s will remains within it. I’ve always felt her presence—she couldn’t possibly have—”
Before he could finish—
Crack!
The moment the Mark of Time compass approached Chen Lingxiu’s statue, it fractured like a spiderweb before crumbling into dust, as if unable to withstand the erosion of endless ages.
Boom!
Huo Hai’s mind seemed struck by lightning. His pupils dilated as he stood frozen, petrified with shock.
Thud!
Elder Luo Wutian also collapsed to his knees, his body limp.
Though he had braced himself for the worst, the confirmation still shattered him beyond control.
Who was Chen Lingxiu?
She was the spiritual pillar of every disciple in the Carefree Sect!
And now, that pillar had collapsed!
“Ah... Dreams like the flicker of a dying candle, souls adrift like scattered catkins, thoughts slipping through fingers like loose sand, minds floating like duckweed on water... I, too, have been bound by sorrow, wasting half my life, drifting apart from kin and comrades...”
Xu Jinghong, cradling the statue, mused aloud.
This was the state of a shattered spirit. As someone who had been through it, he understood the Carefree Sect disciples’ anguish all too well.
“Wah—Senior Xu, you’re making me cry again...” Lin Yuyu had been holding up fine, but Xu Jinghong’s poetic lament instantly brought tears to her eyes.
An excess of empathy could be a curse.
“Enough. She’s merely dead—not beyond revival. Stop mourning as if all hope is lost!”
Chen Yi shook his head and snapped lightly, snapping Huo Hai and Luo Wutian out of their daze.
Huo Hai’s gaze gradually sharpened. Realizing the implication, he scrambled forward on his knees, kowtowing fervently:
“Honored Transcender, is there still hope? What must I do? I’ll do anything to bring Ancestor Lingxiu back—strip me of my position, demote me to a menial laborer, just don’t cast me out of the Carefree Sect!”
Luo Wutian remained silent but followed suit, kowtowing desperately.
Chen Yi asked leisurely, “What if it requires you to abandon your Nascent Soul cultivation?”
Huo Hai didn’t hesitate. “This junior is worthless, having failed our ancestors. If my years of cultivation can revive our forebear and restore the Carefree Sect’s glory, I’ll gladly sacrifice it all!”
“Same here!” Luo Wutian declared with equal resolve.
For men like them, the sect’s honor came above all else.
And that was precisely what made dealing with them so difficult.
They were men of faith—you could kill their bodies, but never their unyielding will.
“Good.”
Chen Yi nodded slightly before raising a hand. With a single tap, Huo Hai’s body and Nascent Soul dissolved, leaving only his soul hovering in place.
Just as Huo Hai braced for martyrdom—
A radiant beam descended from the heavens, bathing his soul in light. A unique mark etched itself onto his forehead, solidifying his ethereal form.
The sensation was indescribable—warm, soothing, as if soaking in a hot spring, comfort surging from his toes to his crown.
When he reopened his eyes moments later, the world seemed both familiar and subtly altered.
The scenery remained unchanged, save for wisps of an otherworldly energy now visible to his naked eye.
Luo Wutian, standing beside him, was enveloped in green-tinged energy with hints of azure. According to the knowledge imprinted in Huo Hai’s mark, this indicated Luo Wutian’s status as a Nascent Soul cultivator blessed by a unique fortune, granting him the potential to advance to the Divine Transformation realm.
This was just the surface. Deeper insights were still unfolding.
Luo Wutian, age 638, mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, monthly stipend of 900,000 spirit stones, personal reserves estimated at: three jin of azure-grade materials, five hundred jin of green-grade, ninety-one tons of yellow-grade, nine tons of blue-grade, two hundred fifty jin of white-grade...
Note: One catty of white-tier supplies can sustain three adult humans for a week. One catty of blue-tier supplies can sustain ten adult humans plus three 200-catty beasts for a month. One catty of yellow-tier supplies can sustain a hundred adult humans plus fifty 500-catty creatures for a year. One catty of green-tier supplies can sustain a thousand people...
Wait, seriously?
Luo Wutian, you're this rich?
Just your personal resource stockpile alone could feed roughly ten million people for a year?
How much blood and sweat did you squeeze out of the common folk, you old bastard?!
Hold on—
Luo Wutian has always been frugal, living modestly. He dutifully relies on his official stipend, and his cultivation resources are all allocated by the sect. He only stockpiles what he doesn’t use up—there’s practically no chance he’s embezzling anything. So...
It’s my Carefree Sect that’s exploiting the people?!
The resources we monopolize every year might seem trivial to cultivators, but for the lower classes, they’re life-saving rations?!
Oh no—I’m the villain now!
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
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!"
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
ial death, also known as "shè sǐ" in Chinese, generally refers to... well, never mind, it's not important. My name is Ye Cheng, and I'm about to experience social death firsthand. ... 【Host, your mission is to confess your love to the young lady of the Dongfang family, the current student council president, in a way that will be unforgettable for everyone at the freshman ceremony!】 【Host, assist the girl with a sprained ankle in front of you to reach the infirmary, and fulfill the wicked thoughts in your heart!】 【Host, act on your desires and punish the arrogant young lady before you mercilessly!】 【Host, follow your instincts—abandon shameful surrender, begging, or groveling, and ruthlessly criticize the domineering, ill-mannered young lady in front of you!】 【Host...】 Ye Cheng: "Here, here, you take this host role—I quit!" Wait, why is the girl with a sprained ankle the daughter of a mafia boss? And what kind of punishment method is this for the arrogant young lady? Also, who the heck said anything about wicked thoughts in my heart? Come out here, let’s settle this one-on-one!!! ... The haughty student council president, the scheming mafia princess, the fragile yandere young lady, the airheaded maid-in-waiting, the mixed-blood loli/...
