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."
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.
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)
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
