Within the secret realm, a tempest raged as the awe-inspiring might of the heavens descended.
From the unseen depths, the mournful cry of a phoenix seemed to echo between heaven and earth.
A vast and ancient vision pressed down like reality itself.
In the void, the phantom of a bronze divine tree emerged—majestic and profound, transcending time and space, embodying boundless cycles of creation and destruction.
Upon its branches perched phoenixes, vermilion birds, golden crows, and dark-winged avians... each lifelike, exuding the aura of sovereigns ruling their domains.
This was but a shadow.
Yet it seemed to suppress the very heavens.
"The Bronze Divine Tree."
"The Great Shang's Heaven-Blessed Artifact?"
Fragments from The Annals of Divine Forms flashed through Li Mo's mind.
He glanced at the girl's retreating figure, knowing now was not the time to disturb her.
"Senior Brother Xiaobao."
"Hmm?"
"Be ready to act when the moment comes."
Ying Bing's jade-like face was slightly pale.
The Seventh Realm was, after all, the Seventh Realm.
Regardless of how one attained the rank of Martial Sage, their body became a self-contained cosmos, capable of traversing the void, roaming tens of thousands of miles, and with a mere gesture, sinking a thousand miles of land—akin to a human-shaped calamity.
Her guess had been correct.
This Blood Phoenix Secret Realm was no mere secret realm.
It was the inner cosmos of a Xuan-Sovereign.
Only, compared to a true Xuan-Sovereign's domain, it appeared desolate and ruined.
Hum—
From the phantom of the Bronze Divine Tree, the gaze of a divine bird descended.
As if demanding submission from this presumptuous young maiden.
Ying Bing met it calmly.
Her other foot stepped onto the summit of the staircase.
Instantly.
Every divine bird perched upon the Bronze Divine Tree turned its frigid gaze upon her.
Blazing, frigid, eerie—countless overwhelming divine intents bore down upon her.
A thousand pressures weighed upon her body.
Ying Bing's black hair whipped wildly, her face cold as frost under moonlight.
"Merely a broken phantom."
"Even if the true form descended, it would kneel before me as if before a god."
A radiant glow swirled around Ying Bing, intertwined with the essence of the Supreme Yin.
The two forces spiraled like the sun and moon in tandem, casting endless radiance.
The Xuan Core Realm.
And not just one—but two Xuan Cores, both fully formed.
Upon closer inspection, each seemed to pulse with wondrous mysteries.
The girl was now luminous as polished jade, the sole light before the dark bronze hall.
"Retreat."
Her form remained small.
Yet wherever she stepped, the phantom of the Bronze Divine Tree receded like a tide.
After just two steps.
Ying Bing's ears twitched slightly.
She heard footsteps following behind her.
Not Tang Xiaobao's.
His.
He... was truly peculiar.
She couldn't help but recall the scene on the Celestial Stairway.
As if no pressure, no matter how overwhelming, had any effect on that youth.
Though the divine form of the Bronze Divine Tree was incomplete, its will alone should have been unbearable for those below the Inner Breath or Insight Realm.
Yet Li Mo had followed her with leisurely ease.
For some reason.
At this critical moment, having him behind her gave her an inexplicable sense of reassurance...
"Now is not the time for such thoughts."
A few dozen meters later.
The two stood before the palace gates.
This palace was clearly grander and more imposing than those below.
An inscribed plaque hung above:
"Court of Heaven's Ascent."
"Enough of these games."
"Show yourself."
Ying Bing narrowed her eyes at the palace entrance, her tone brooking no argument.
The space before the palace was empty, devoid of any stone stele.
Yet the moment her words fell—
Boom—
The towering gates of the Court of Heaven's Ascent slowly creaked open.
Li Mo peered inside but saw only an abyssal darkness.
Whoosh—
Suddenly.
Two lamps flickered to life, followed by a chain reaction as torches ignited in rapid succession, forming two fiery lines.
The resplendent hall within was revealed—adorned with solemn, archaic furnishings, yet pristine as if untouched by time.
The floor was etched with intricate Xuan patterns, sprawling like a spider's web, forming an array.
At its center.
A skeleton of pale gold and jade sat cross-legged, its hollow gaze fixed upon the heavens, as if demanding answers from an unjust fate.
Though dead for untold years.
It still exuded an indomitable majesty.
"Is this the remains of that Xuan-Sovereign?"
Li Mo was puzzled.
Was this the heart of the secret realm—the burial site of this sovereign?
He glanced at Ying Bing, only to find her icy gaze fixed on the depths of the hall.
"This is my corpse... or rather, the me of the past."
A voice suddenly echoed through the hall, haunting and distant.
"You?"
Li Mo's brow rose slightly, his guard up.
He recognized this crimson-robed youth.
The one who had arrived with the Crimson Whale Gang during the Nine Peaks Tournament.
He had intended to observe him with his Heaven's Eye then, but circumstances had prevented it.
Now, Li Mo's eyes shimmered with obscure light as he activated his divine sight.
[Name: Han Zhen]
[Age: 22 (5,330)]
[Bone Structure: Blood Phoenix Immortal Body]
[Realm: Insight Realm, Three Apertures]
[Fate: Purple tinged with Gold]
[Evaluation: Former Grand Preceptor of the Great Shang Dynasty. After the fall of Shang, he clung to life through the Blood Phoenix's essence. On the verge of soul and flesh collapse, he attained deeper enlightenment into its mysteries, allowing rebirth through reincarnation. Now in his seventh life.]
[Recent Events: Upon seeing Ying Bing, he believes the restoration of the dynasty is possible and seeks to recruit her for Great Shang's cause. To accumulate the Blood Phoenix's power, he has wrought countless storms of blood.]
"Grand Preceptor... of Great Shang?"
Li Mo understood now.
So it wasn't just a shared name—this was the author of The Annals of Divine Forms himself!
No wonder the Karmic Flames within him had stirred upon entering.
This Han Zhen bore sins too numerous to count.
Han Zhen stood with hands clasped behind his back, atop the steps.
"You are even more extraordinary than I imagined—a masterpiece of the heavens, unparalleled in all of history!"
His voice trembled with near-fanatical fervor.
He had witnessed Ying Bing's defiance of the Bronze Divine Tree.
Han Zhen did not possess a complete Great Dao Divine Form.
In ancient times, even with the Blood Phoenix's essence and his reforged Blood Phoenix Immortal Body, he had barely managed to manifest a wisp of the tree's phantom.
Yet that alone should have been unbearable for an Inner Breath cultivator.
But that wasn't the point.
What truly mattered was—
Han Zhen sensed within this girl an essence far nobler than his own.
Not even the emperors or crown princes of old could compare.
"I must apologize for my earlier disrespect."
To Li Mo's surprise, Han Zhen actually bowed. His eyes burned with intensity.
"I originally intended to recruit you... but now, my plans have changed."
He paused, glancing at Li Mo.
This youth, too, held his own uniqueness.
Otherwise, even with Ying Bing shouldering most of the pressure, he would never have made it here.
"Would the two of you join me in a grand endeavor?"
Han Zhen spoke solemnly.
Ying Bing's gaze remained frosty.
Li Mo, observing her expression from the corner of his eye, smiled faintly.
"What's in it for us? Let's hear it."
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
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."
'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.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
