Little Li's most powerful move at the moment?
Calling for backup.
The Judge and the Earthly Fiend Assassin didn’t go peacefully.
Shang Wu was in a foul mood.
She already had a temper when woken up, and she’d just been dreaming about falling onto a mountain of gold when she was rudely yanked back to reality.
Gulp—
The Judge stiffly turned his head and saw the towering woman in palace robes looming over him, her almond-shaped eyes flickering with red-and-white flames.
He smelled the charred scent of his own flesh, his breath labored, his throat parched.
"Hero, actually, I’m—"
"Hah..."
Shang Wu curled her lip.
"I don’t give a damn who you are."
Boom!
One punch, and the Judge abruptly lost half his height—his head was driven straight into his chest.
The black-robed man, sensing the danger, unleashed a tide of vengeful spirits, as if hell itself had opened its gates, while he himself scrambled backward.
But the surging black tide evaporated before it could even touch the palace-robed woman.
"Hmph, trying to run?!"
Shang Wu glanced at the unconscious children nearby and shot into the air.
White-tinged flames radiated from her body, and behind her bloomed a crystalline lotus, its petals still closed yet exuding an aura capable of purging all filth from the world—like a new sun banishing the darkness.
The sun became a meteor, illuminating the boundless night.
As she threw her punch, the lotus petals trembled gently, and from within came a woman’s voice—still Shang Wu’s, but serene and pure, echoing through the clouds:
"The phoenix cries upon the high ridge.
The parasol tree grows beneath the morning sun."
The flames blazed, setting the clouds aglow.
Wherever Shang Wu passed, the vengeful spirits were scorched clean of their darkness, leaving only the purest essence to return to the heavens and earth.
Zuo Qiuyang swallowed hard.
This woman spent her days drunk and lazing around the hotpot shop.
Who knew she could fight like a raging storm?
Anyone with eyes could see she was handling the Earthly Fiend Assassin like an adult disciplining a child.
"Kid." The voice of Thousand Forms Martial Venerable suddenly echoed in Xiao Qin’s mind.
"Yeah? What is it, Master?"
"This master-uncle of yours... what was her surname again?"
"Shang. As in the Great Shang Dynasty."
"Shang... Southern Brightness’s Flames... but at her age..."
Thousand Forms Martial Venerable’s voice was laced with contemplation and confusion, leaving Xiao Qin utterly baffled.
Crack!
Suddenly, the flames consumed the black tide entirely.
The jade-like fist struck the black-robed man, igniting him in an instant before he exploded into a rain of fire.
Even the worst villains make pretty fireworks when they burst.—Li Mo.
He shielded his eyes with a hand, watching the fiery display.
Well.
The one thing you could always count on Master for was a good fight...
Jiang Chulong finally regained her senses.
She had no idea what had just happened.
One moment, a villain had appeared out of nowhere to kidnap her, then Aunt Mei had rushed in to shield her.
Then Big Brother Li arrived, bringing along a terrifyingly fierce older sister...
Now, it seemed, she was safe?
"Aunt Mei... are you alright?"
Seeing the middle-aged beauty sway unsteadily, Jiang Chulong quickly steadied her.
The woman called Aunt Mei was weak, her breath shallow.
She shook her head slightly, forcing a calm smile.
"I’ll be fine."
As she spoke, her gaze fell on the ring on Jiang Chulong’s finger, then flicked to the young man nearby—her eyes filled with puzzlement and deep thought.
Their eyes met.
Well, Little Li happened to be looking at her too... through the Eyes of Fate.
[Name: Mei Yun]
[Age: 39]
[Root Bone: Graceful Sword Physique]
[Cultivation: Inner Scenery, Ninth Heaven]
[Destiny: Blue]
[Evaluation: Formerly one of the Four Sword Maidens of the Heavenly Mountain Sword Manor’s Mystic Maiden. Originally at Outer Scenery Realm, she renounced the sect’s forbidden arts and left the sect.]
[Recent Events: Escaped the Sky Patrol Guards, returned to Purple Sun Prefecture in secret to protect her master’s last descendant. Currently injured, Inner Scenery nearly depleted.]
So this was the person he’d sensed protecting Jiang Chulong before.
At the time, he’d wondered how an Inner Scenery cultivator could be so easily detected.
Turns out she was wounded.
"Senior, your injuries are quite severe."
"This might help."
He flipped his hand, revealing a jade vial. Even through the container, the vitality within was palpable.
Five Hues Violet Spirit Pill.
"Thank you."
After a moment of silence, the middle-aged woman took the pill, her eyes flickering with unspoken thoughts.
"You’ve looked after Chulong all this time. The Heavenly Mountain Sword Manor will repay this debt."
"No need. I just took a liking to her."
Li Mo nodded slightly.
[Congratulations, Host. Successful investment in ‘Mei Yun,’ aiding her recovery.]
[Congratulations, Host. Successful investment in ‘Jiang Chulong,’ preventing her abduction by the Fine Rain Tower.]
[Two investment rewards available. Claim now?]
See? Fate works in mysterious ways.
"Not now."
Li Mo dismissed the prompt silently. This wasn’t the time for rewards.
Because the sky had filled with figures—powerful auras, some familiar faces among them. Elders from the Qingyuan Sect, Inner Scenery experts from other sects.
All drawn by Shang Wu’s display.
"This mess isn’t mine to clean up."
Li Mo finally relaxed, popping a stamina-restoring pill.
In moments, the figures descended into the small courtyard.
It got a little crowded...
"That Earthly Fiend Assassin from the Fine Rain Tower was wiped out too thoroughly."
"Elder Shang Wu, you didn’t leave even a scrap behind. Couldn’t you have held back a little?"
"Now we’ve got no one to interrogate."
"This is how I operate. Don’t like it? Don’t call me next time."
The Qingyuan Sect’s elder council—always a delight.
The Inner Scenery experts from the Crimson Whale Gang and the Blazing Jade Forest exchanged glances, utterly lost.
The scholarly man from Blazing Jade Forest stepped forward, frowning at the Judge’s headless corpse.
He planted a foot on the chest, squeezing the head back out.
"Is this... the Purple Sun Prefecture Lord?"
The Qingyuan elders stopped bickering, crowding around.
Qian Bufan and the others exchanged grave looks.
The Purple Sun Prefecture Lord was a Fine Rain Tower agent? That was some deep cover.
Yet after hiding for so long, he’d risked exposure to act today.
What was worth it?
The Inner Scenery experts turned their gazes to Mei Yun.
The courtyard fell silent.
"Ahem."
Li Mo broke the tension.
"Your humble disciple happens to run a hotpot shop. Perhaps the esteemed elders would like to discuss this over a meal?"
Everyone: "......"
......
Back at the hotpot shop.
Leaving the elders to handle the aftermath, Li Mo retreated to his room.
Lying on his bed, he focused inward.
"Claim."
[Claim successful.]
[Reward One: Verdant Life Elixir.]
[Reward Two: Golden Crow Sun Visualization Art.]
[Verdant Life Elixir]: "A single drop can revive the dead, regrow flesh from bone, make stones bloom—overflowing with vitality."
【Golden Crow Sun Visualization Art】: "This painting depicts the majestic scene of a Golden Crow, a divine avian, soaring through the skies, containing boundless mysteries. By meditating upon it, one can manifest the vision of nine suns illuminating the heavens!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
] [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!"
